Mechanica

by Betsy Cornwell

Nicolette's awful stepsisters call her "Mechanica" to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother's knee. Her mum is gone now, though, and the Steps have pushed her into a life of dreary servitude. When she discovers a secret workshop in the cellar on her sixteenth birthday and befriends Jules, a tiny magical metal horse. Nicolette starts to imagine a new life for herself. And the timing may be perfect: There's a technological exposition and a royal ball on the horizon. Determined to invent her own happily-ever-after, Mechanics seeks to wow the prince and eager entrepreneurs alike.

• ISBN13: 9780544668683
• Publish Date: 2 August 2016 (first published 25 August 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 15 November 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

5 Things I Loved About Mechanica

1. The cover. Back in December, Amazon had a sale on young adult literature. I went on a one-click binge, probably the ONLY one I ever been one, and I picked up this gem because the cover is so beautiful. Just enjoy it for a moment.

Look at the details. What’s not in color vs. what is in color. See the subtle hint at the steampunk elements? How about the butterfly? Beautiful.

2. Nicolette’s mother and her drive to educate her daughter. Nearly from the beginning we learn that Nicolette’s mother is unique. She has the skill to animate machines and bring joy to people’s lives. Her creations are magical. Nicolette’s mother strives to pass that love on to her daughter even though working with machines isn’t necessarily women’s work.

3. Nicolette. She doesn’t sit back and wait for her prince to rescue her. Once her initial discovery is made and she begins to work the skills her mother had been teaching her, she goes about concocting and carrying out her own rescue plan.

4. The steampunk and fae elements. There’s some backstory here and Cornwell shares a bit of it through Nicolette’s history lessons and bedtime stories, but I have a feeling it’s a deeper story. I felt hints of it as Nicolette worked on her own mechanical creations and in some of the conversations the characters have. I want to know more. I want to see more!

5. The fae idea of what makes a family. I latched onto this idea so strongly due to my own life experiences. A core belief of the fae is that friends can make a family. I’m not sure I’ve encountered this message so strongly in any other book I’ve read. I’m happy this message plays key role in the story’s ending.

Is Mechanica perfect? No, it’s not. Many of the secondary characters fit the mold of the known Cinderella story and unlike Nicolette, they don’t strive to break the mold, but sit comfortably inside it. And the ending felt a bit rushed. But for me, the magic of Mechanica resides in point number 5. That is the message that sticks with me and the top reason I will treasure this story.

This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews

[Silvara]

Check out my other reviews, discussions and link ups at Fantasy of the Silver Dragon.

I loved all the inventions and steampunk things in this book. I especially loved Jules.

I liked that in this Cinderella twist, Nicolette wasn't trying to get to the ball and meet the prince. She was trying to get to an inventors showcase and find a patron for her inventions so she could be her own person. Not under her step-families thumb and subject to their whims.

There was both insta-love, and insta-friendship in the book. The insta-love isn't surprising considering this is basically a Cinderella retelling. But Nicolette's love interest as well as her best friend didn't have a lot of focus in the book. And therefore, they weren't developed as well as they could have been. The same was true for her step-sisters and step-mother. We saw that they were bad and mean to Nicolette, but we never really saw more than that surface.

I liked the ending in general, it fit Nicolette's personality perfectly. But there was too much left open. I want to know what Ash is, and why it's apparently bad. I want to know what happens to Nicolette's house and her mother's workshop. What happens next in her friendships. Does the hinted at war happen? What about Jules?

With so much left open, I'm hoping there will be a sequel to wrap things up more. But as it stands right now, it's too open without the promise of another book in the series. If you like retellings and unique twists, I would recommend this book. But only if you don't mind open-endings as well.

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon

[tweetybugshouse]

First of all i have to say that i picked this book cause that cover is just gorgeous i can;t wait to see on a book shelf in real life. I am happy to say that the book totally fit the cover. Ok i totally loved this book and am sad now that i look at goodreads all the negative bashing about how it a cinder retelling. Why bash the poor author taking a concept and making it her own. Everyone oh and ahhing over all the other retelling that are out their why is this one being bashed so horribly.

I for one loved this book, i love how Mechanica not only comes to realize that her circumstances are not what she is, but have made into who she is. If she had ran away right after she became a slave to the steps she never would of discovered all the joys that were to be found in her mothers workshop, nor would she have learned to hone her mechanical talents that she inherited from her mother. I love all the little twists at the end of the story that i did not see coming. I also love this author take on the glass slipper and the carriage that Mechanica takes to the ball. It was very nicely done and i for one thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Beth C.]

Cinderella. It's the fairy tale that has been done to death in just about every form possible. But every once in a while, even with a tale that has been retold so many times that it's burned into the brains of most of modern society, you find something pleasantly different. 'Mechanica' is one of those times.

Mechanica, well - that's not her real name. It's a nickname the hated Steps have foisted upon her. With her mother long dead and her father killed not to long after remarrying, Nicolette is stuck as a servant in her own house, looked down upon by her new "family". But then, on her 16th birthday, a letter is delivered to her and her mother's secret workshop - long thought destroyed - is discovered. Can Nicolette re-write her future? Or will she be stuck living out her present?

The book mostly follows the basic Cinderella outline, but author Betsy Cornwell manages to shake things up a bit. We learn quite a bit more about Nicolette's mother, and Nicolette has more adventures than the Disney princess manages. The best part of the book, for young adult readers, is that the hero of the story is not the Prince who rescues the girl - it's the girl who works to overcome huge odds in an attempt to rescue herself.

Yes, the book can seem a little bit...convenient...at times. But I still quite enjoyed it overall and will happily keep this on my bookshelves for my daughter to read. And the ending, well...I don't do spoilers, but I will say that I *much* prefered it to the typical "sweep-her-off-her-feet" love story that Cinderella has. Overall, it's a sweet story with a good message, and would be suitable for audiences even as young as 10 if their reading skills are up to it.

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I'm sure there's going to be a lot of comparisons to Cinder, but other than Cinderella being a mechanic, Mechanica is actually quite different. On Nicollete's 16th birthday, she receives a letter from her long dead mother, leading her to a skeleton key. This key opens up her secret workshop where Nick is surrounded by automaton insects and a horse. It's here where she creates machines to make her chores simpler, and where she dreams of owning her own workshop to get away from her evil stepmother and stepsisters. If only she could think of a great invention for the upcoming Exposition.

Mechanica is a great Steampunk retelling with a pinch of magic. I loved how fey existed and had lived in harmony with humans for awhile, but after they were banished, the humans were on their own. Now it's machines that are needed to do what magic once did. Nicolette happens to have access to both, even if she isn't quite sure how to use the magic. I really loved the descriptions of her and her mother's inventions. They're very imaginative.

There is a romance in Mechanica, of course, but it's very different. It really did not go the way I was expecting at all. Nick meets Caroline and Finn when she goes to the market to sell her inventions and she becomes quick friends with the pair. Obviously she has to fall for Finn, even though she rarely sees him after that initial meeting. I wasn't feeling the romance between Finn and Nick. She had sooo much more chemistry with Caro, but that was just wishful thinking on my part. But then, there's a twist! I was like aw! Then there's another twist and I was like WTF?! But then things happen, and I was like, good! It's very unexpected, but I liked this resolution.

I enjoyed Mechanica quite a bit, but the ending did feel incomplete. While I was happy with the way the romance turned out, I was still left wondering about those Ashes. Nick ponders on them for a lot of the book, since she has no idea how they actually work and she was warned away from them at one point. We never learn what they are or why they're dangerous! That is something I would like to know! We also never learn what becomes her stepmother and stepsisters. It just ends. It's a happy ending, but I would have liked to know more.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.